April 21, 2009

B.C. job losses largest in the country

'A lot of hurt out there'

Another 23,000 people in B.C. joined the ranks of job-seekers in March as unemployment continues to climb in the province.

British Columbia saw some of the steepest job losses in the country last month, shedding nearly 23,000 jobs, according to Statistics Canada's new labour-force survey.

Across Canada, another 61,300 jobs were cut in March and the unemployment rate rose to eight per cent, pointing to a deepening recession. A total of 357,000 jobs have been lost nationally since October 2008's peak, the largest decline since the 1982 recession.

B.C. residents suffered the largest loss of all the provinces last month, ahead of Ontario and Alberta.

Among the hardest-hit sectors are B.C.'s biggest industries: construction, real estate and manufacturing (including wood products).

B.C.'s Construction, Maintenance and Allied Workers president Jan Noster, whose union represents 7,000 workers in B.C. and Alberta, said 20 per cent of his members are without work. "In outlying rural areas it's grim. There's a lot of hurt out there. I don't want to be all doom and gloom, but the housing industry is in the tubes and I don't think it's coming back any time soon," he said.

Worst hit are construction workers in Northern B.C., where the economic picture was already dire, and it's the young apprentices who are bearing the brunt of layoffs.

"A lot of young people came into the trades because we were telling them it was a good place to be. In a downturn like this the apprentices are the first ones cut," Noster said.

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